The Role Of Cerberus In Greek Mythology

Greek mythology has some of the most known characters and stories in the world. Although Cerberus is best known as a watchdog, he is also known for his acts of heroism and influence on the modern day world.

Cerberus is known mostly for his role as a guard in Greek mythology. Cerberus was created as the offspring of the monster, Typhon, and the half-serpent half-women, Echidna. Cerberus had numerous siblings but the most popular is Hydra, a serpent monster, and Chimaera, a monster with the head of a lion. Cerberus, himself, looked some what close to a dog that possessed three heads. He had eyes a yellow as mustard and large ears that stood up high on his head. Cerberus is often described to have up to fifty snakes on his back. "He is often pictured with the tail of a snake or a dragon and with snakes sprouting from his back" (Cerberus). He's known to be

Cerberus was very kind to the souls who inhabited the underworld and enjoyed greeting the new arrivals who had just died. But if you weren't dead, Hades, Persephone or Charon, Cerberus was fearsome and stern, he could even get deadly towards others. The only ways to mollify Cerberus was to feed him a cake or play the harp for him. It's said when Cerberus was angered he looked so terrifying "any living person who saw him turn to stone"(Cerberus). If Cerberus wished, the saliva in his mouth could produce a deadly poison. These powers were very beneficial to Cerberus's job. Cerberus worked as a guard dog who protected the Styx River and prevented the living to go pates the gates of Hades into the underworld. With his job, Cerberus "was to eat whoever tried to escape the underworld and stop those who tried to enter" (Cerberus). While on the job,